that does it for this edition of "360." thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. dollars and dreams, we are just hours away from finding out the winning numbers in one of the largest lottery jackpots in history. very excited. murdered over music? a loud stereo leads to the shooting death of a teenager with the gunman claiming self-defense now. back on the hill, u.n. ambassador susan rice trying again today to win over republican lawmakers after round one leaves three of them unconvinced. good morning. welcome to "early start."

i'm christie romans in for john on assignment. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. 5:00 a.m. on the east. half a million bucks, what do you think? are you in yet? the powerball jackpot tonight is the second largest in lottery history. that's a lot of office pools. we are in on it over here and have defied serious odds to get here. 16 consecutive powerball rollovers without a winner yet. and that streak is likely to end really soon. a lottery official calculates a 5% chance no one will win tonight if sales spike as they are expected to. and if you do happen to win the cash value of the jackpot, it now stands at 324 million dollars. but time for a quick reality check, your odds of winning are 175 million to 1. alison kosik closely monitoring powerball fever is live from new york's times square this morning. the odds are not good but the fever is really high, isn't it,

alison? >> reporter: it is. we walked into this convenient store here in times square and you see the advertising over my shoulder near the convenient store, but you don't need advertising when you see a number like $500 million, that's half a billion. who doesn't want to be fill think rich? the odds are not good as this jackpot increases your odds decrease. they are so bad that you have a better chance of being struck by lightning. you have better odds of dying from a bee sting. and you have better odds of getting attacked by a shark. better odds of all that compared to winning the $500 million jackpot. i did talk to one woman who walked in to buy her morning coffee and she didn't buy a powerball. instead she bought a couple other lottery tickets from the new york state lotto. i asked her, why department you buy the powerball, it is $500 million? she said, i have better odds of getting hit by a car. here in new york city, i have to agree with her. >> i know, but just imagine if

you do win. alison, we are seeing the record jackpot because of changes made to the powerball game. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: it seems the lottery commission doubled the price of a powerball ticket from $1 to $2 in hopes of generating more revenue, but something interesting happened, sales initially went down and then they got a pop and went back up. sales really increased because people started talking about it. all that buzz happened, that jackpot grew and grew over the months, the jackpots for the powerball. in the end it increased sales and that generates revenue for states because, of course, you have to pay taxes on any of your winnings. so with the lot he commission increasing the price was generate revenue. they did and wow they will with this jackpot of $500 million. >> alison, did you buy a ticket? >> reporter: oh, no, i have no

problem admitting it. i will go ahead and buy a few tickets of my own. >> good luck to you. thank you. we'll talk to you soon. the other big story this morning, if at once you don't succeed, try, try again. susan rice, the u.n. ambassador returns for a second round of meeting with republican senators. rice failed to win over her sharpest gop critics yesterday still troubled about her comments following the u.s. attack in the u.s. consulate in benghazi that spring from a protest. she told "ac 360" that rice misled the american public. >> she would say that. she would have to say that because she began our meeting today admitting the representations of the video and the protests were wrong. and the impression left the american people misleading. >> senators graham and mccain are now more concerned than before they met with ambassador rice and are not willing still

to consider her as secretary of state. three mid-level managers at the garment factory that went up in flames in bangladesh are under arrest. they are accused of locking the main gate of the factory after the inferno broke out saturday. that fire killed more than 100 workers and injured more than 150 other people. several thousand people are mourning and protesting near that factory. a deadly double car bombing in syria this morning. at least 29 people were killed in the blast that happened just outside the capital of damascus. a syrian human rights group says the death toll is expected to rise due to the number of people injured in the bombings. also new this morning, an audit from afghanistan finds rampant corruption in the kabul bank. it is a depository for u.s. reconstruction dollars. "the new york times" report the audit concludes the bank is a ponzi scheme allowing those connected to president karzai access to hundreds of millions of dollars.

all right. call it the fiscal cliffhanger, only 34 days to go before severe tax hikes and spending cuts kick in. democrats and republicans appear stuck. entitlement reform is a stumbling block. democrats don't want deep cuts to medicaid, medicare and social security. republicans see no other choice. >> the reason we are having these negotiations is because washington democrats have spent money without any care for the cost or the future. and refuse to do anything to protect long-term spending programs like medicare, a failure that's among the biggest drivers of our debt. >> one out of three people in this country are going to rely on medicare and medicaid for their health insurance. so we need to find ways to reserve these programs. >> senator durbin is suggesting the debate over the entitlement programs should be waged after the new year once the fiscal cliff issue has been settled. six minutes past the hour, new storms rolling into the

northwest this morning. and that could cause dangerous flooding. alexandra steele is live in atlanta for us. what's going on? >> hey, good morning to you guys. we've got one storm that's gone and one storm that's a massive storm incoming. so let's start with this, all you guys in new york city had snow, for sure, but right now we certainly don't. this has all moved offshore. this was just the rain, but what was left behind? actually black ice there this morning. places like new jersey, six inches of snow. chester, new jersey, five. you can see sunbury, pennsylvania, three. 2 1/2 in mill brooke. the hudson valley and portions of connecticut are seeing black ice as a factor. take it slow, especially the elevated surfaces with temperatures so cold. story number one. story number two, a mammoth storm, this is the water vapor. what you need to see with this is look at this huge trough off the coast. all this moisture is poised to

come in. it's actually called, atmospheric river of moisture, just a barrage on the west coast. it's called pineapple express to bring moisture all the way from the hawaiian islands to the west coast. and not just today. we'll see it come onshore tonight and then we'll see it all the way through the weekend. so five-day affair with ample moisture. what that's going to mean is flash flooding, rock slides, southern cal rain and snow from the bitter roots to the sierra. those are just some of the features of the trouble we'll see on the west. we'll talk more about that coming up. back to you guys. eight minutes past the hour. after biting the hand that feeds him, millions of dollars, the kid from "two and a half men" is saying sorry in an online video. jones who recently joined an evangelical christian church called his show filth and now says, "i apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference

to and disrespect of my colleagues, and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which i have been blessed. i never intended that." and now former co star charlie sheen fired from the show is weighing in in a statement saying, quote, it is ratticly clear to me that the show "two and a half men" is cursed. switching gears this morning, first the tray von martin case with another fatally-involved shooting of a teen in florida could put the stand your ground case to the test. we'll have that story coming up. it's changing the conversation. ♪

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citi price rewind. well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save. welcome back. florida's stand your ground law could be at the center of another murder case now. this time a murder suspect says he was threatened after he asked four african-american teenagers in an suv to turn down loud music at a jacksonville gas

station. that they cursed him and flashed a shotgun as well. that's when his attorney says he decided to defend himself. police say 25-year-old michael dunn peppered the suv with eight or nine bullets. two of them hit 17-year-old jordan davis. there's a picture of him right there, killing him. martin savage is following developments from our headquarters in atlanta. what can you tell us about the story? >> good morning. the latest is michael dunn was arrested on saturday. he had his first court appearance on monday entering a plea of not guilty to the count of murder and attempted murder. and he's currently being held without bond. his attorney has been speaking out for him and he says that his client definitely felt that his life was threatened. first he says that he was threat upped verbally and then he was threatened with a gun. listen to what the attorney said. >> kill that mother [ bleep ]. that mother [ bleep ] is dead. you dead [ bleep ]. and he sees that much of a

shotgun coming up over the rim of the suv, which is up higher than his jetta. and it's all he sees are heavily tinted front windows that are up and the back windows that are down and the car has at least four black men in it. and he doesn't know how old anybody is, he doesn't know anything, but he knows when he sees one. >> so michael dunn defended himself. he was licensed to carry a weapon. there was no finding of a weapon inside the teenagers' vehicle. >> do we know if dunn called police when this incident snapped we understand he left the scene, why did he do that? >> the attorneys say the reason he left the scene was that after the shooting took place they were not sure what the reaction was going to be with the occupants inside the vehicle. because they had possibly seen a gun they might come out shooting. on top of that as you heard the attorney said, they suspected they could be members of the

gang and that the gang members could retaliate in some way. so for their own safety they fled, even though many people find that highly suspicious. >> hard to believe they wouldn't just reach out to police. this happened in florida, as did the trayvon martin shooting. any indication that dunn's attorney is setting up a stand your ground defense here? >> she's quited ament when she says there is no trayvon martin case. what she implies is this is not a case of vigilante on the case of michael dunn, however it is possible stand your ground could come into place. listen to the jacksonville police department's spokesperson as they describe the events. we'll talk about it afterwards. >> his statement was i just fired at these kids. we believe at that time, i don't know that he knew he struck anyone in the vehicle, but the next morning i guess when they woke up in the hotel and saw the news that someone was killed, that's when they got in their car and fled back to the area. >> the key is the language used,

especially by the defendant. he says he feels threatened. that can fall under the jurisdiction of stand your ground law in the sense that even if the young men did not have a gun, if he felt he was jeopardized, he could possibly use the stand your ground as a reason to take legal action against them. it remains to be seen. what is very interesting is this is jacksonville, florida. it is angela curry's jurisdiction. that is the lead prosecutor in the case against george zimmerman. she has said she'll take the fullest extent of the law against this particular man now in custody. >> martin savage live in atlanta, thank you very much for that. 60 minutes past the hour, we'll get you updated on the top story. the powerball jackpot, half a billion dollars. the second largest in lottery history and a record for the 42-state powerball game. the cash for a single winning ticket now stands at $324 million. tragedy on long island.

a 6-year-old boy was killed when a bus crashed right into his home in hempstead late last night. police say the driver tried to avoid hitting a pedestrian when he swerved, lost control and crashed right into the front bedroom of that house. the victim's 7-year-old brother was also in the bedroom. he suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 11 people on the bus escaped with minor injuries. the giant sinkhole is burning. an update to the story we have been following since last summer. the sinkhole in southern louisiana swallowed up trees and threatened nearby homes. there it is. officials in assumption parish say the sinkhole is pushing debris and vegetation back up to the surface. that's why they call it burning. the type of fat a man carries around his middle could indicate a higher risk for bone loss and broken bones. a new study found that men with deep belly fat have weaker bones and therefore a greater chance of bone fractures than men who

carry fat just under the skin. and shares for monster energy drink are seeing a monster 13% spike after the fda decided not to take any immediate action against makers of the caffeinated drinks. last month the fda said it was investigating reports of five deaths which could be linked to the drink. the fda did consider pushing for warnings and more information on drink labels like caffeine content, possible side effects after it finishes a safety review. the kansas city chiefs' runningback jamaal charles is feeling the heat after a camera saw him asking for peyton manning's autograph. he said the autograph was for his mom. >> even if it was for him, leave him alone. time for your local news making national headlines this morning. no one wants cell phone towers in their yard, so they are turning to a higher authority in california.

the san francisco chronicle reporting a growing number of churches leasing space in their steeples for cell attenthat nae. it pays $4,000 a month. all right. do you think bald is beautiful? i do. now it is downright profitable as well. the "new york daily news" telling the story of the nyu graduate from texas who turned his bald head into a business. the company is called bald logos. brandon and two other bald evangelicals sell ad space on their scalps for $320. they walk the streets. usually they are accompanied by two attractive females and a camera crew to give them attention. it is working. brandon plans to expand his business to several new cities soon. >> there you go. >> love that enterprising

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23 minutes past the hour. u.s. stock futures are down with greece's bailout concerns behind us, the focus goes squarely to washington and the health of the

u.s. economy. >> and all that trouble in washington started last year with the debt ceiling. remember that fight? the u.s. getting very close to hitting the debt ceiling again. what's the debt ceiling? the u.s. spends between $100 to $120 billion more than it takes in every month, so it has to boor remoney to pay its bills. it will take an act of congress to legally borrow more and rack up more debt. the debt ceiling is set at $16 trillion, 394 billion. last week it stood at $16,268,000,000,000. it could hit a high by february of next year. and now home prices, the recovery in much of the country, new home sales numbers today, we learned yesterday that home prices were up nationwide by 3.6% in the third quarter. that's the biggest rise nationwide in more than two years. but look, all real estate is local. we want to show you the cities

with the strongest gains in the past year. home prices in phoenix gained more than 20%. minneapolis home prices rose 9%. there are only two big cities with homes losing value. new york and chicago. they slipped a little bit year over year. what's so interesting to me is that you have seen six months in a row now of home prices gaping. and year over year the best gain nationwide in a couple of years. so you're seeing that slope easing. >> my concerns are florida and nevada as they took big hits. >> you're seeing investors doing a lot of buying in places like florida and nevada. in fact, nationwide investors are almost, cash deals, are almost a third of all real estate deals right now. so people who have money, it doesn't matter what their credit score is, they have money in the bank and there are international investors doing purchasing of homes right now. >> i just worry about it being the biggest asset we have. for the folks who put all their

eggs in that basket, really tough. thank you, i really appreciate that. digging a little deeper. hopefully we'll recover. so here's the other big news. what would you do with a half a billion dollars? tell us at earlystartcnn with your powerball comments. we want to hear how you would spend all that cash. or go to facebook to post your jackpot thoughts. if you're leaving the house, don't fret, watch us on your desktop or mobile phone, just go to cnn.com/tv. i'm dreaming. what would i do? what would you do? >> this chair would be empty. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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trying again. u.s. ambassador susan rice gets another shot at soothing unhappy republican lawmakers over the benghazi attack. and have you heard about the powerball fever? it could be your last chance to get tickets to one of the largest jackpots ever. welcome back to "early start." we are dreaming how we would spend the money. christine romans will give you great advice on what to do if you win. thank you for being with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans in for john berman. it was a good plan in theory, america's u.n. ambassador susan rice asking for a face-to-face meeting with her harshest republican critics who threaten to block her nomination as secretary of state over her public comments in the aftermath of the benghazi attacks. but her meeting appears to have made things worse.

dana bash from washington now with more. >> reporter: the way these grim-faced gop senators tell it, susan rice's attempt to calm their criticism backfired. >> we are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get. >> i am more disturbed now than i was before. >> the information given to the american people was wrong. in fact, ambassador rice said today, absolutely, it was wrong. >> reporter: rice requested to meet with her chief republican critics, ordered to explain why five days after the september benghazi attack that killed four americans she went on sunday talk shows suggesting it was sparked by a spontaneous protest accompanied by acting cia director michael morell, rice explained she was using unclassified talking points which were stripped of references to al qaeda, still classified by the intelligence community. so rice used the word extremist. >> extremist elements came to the consulate as this was unfolding. >> reporter: a source inside the meeting tells cnn rice admitted

to gop senators she was aware of classified information suggesting al qaeda was behind the attack, and yet gop senators point out she still said this publicly. >> we have decimated al qaeda. >> reporter: cnn also was told rice tried to clarify to gop senators what she meant was al qaeda's poor leadership has been decimated but gop senators say it is proof rice was putting pre-election spin before national security. >> it was unjustified to give the scenario as presented by ambassador rice and president obama three weeks before an election. >> reporter: ambassador rice, what do you say to republicans who say your comments were politically motivated? rice didn't answer our question but admitted her talking points were, quo, incorrect in a key respect. there was no protest or demonstration in benghazi. while we certainly wish that we had had perfect information just days after the terrorist attack, as is often the case, the

intelligence assessment has evolved. we stressed that neither i nor anyone else in the administration intended to mislead the american people at any stage in this process. and the white house had this to say. >> the focus on some might say obsession on comments made on sunday shows seems, to me, and to many, to be misplaced. >> reporter: gop senators also complain rice neglected to ask key questions before telling the public what turned out to be wrong information. >> that's troubling to me as well. why she wouldn't have asked, i'm the person that doesn't know anything about this, i'm going on every single show. >> reporter: rice's supporters argue republicans are the ones who litt politicizing the benghazi attack. and some say she is still qualified to be secretary of state if the president

nominates. her. unfortunately, joe lieberman won't get to vote because he's retiring at the end of the year. dana bash, capitol hill. the justice department and the house overnight committee are in talks to settle a lawsuit over fast and furious. that was the government's controversial operation where guns were tracked across the border into the hands of mexican drug cartels. guns linked to the program were found at the site where u.s. border patrol agents were killed. the two sides have been fighting over certain documents that the obama administration has refused to give congress citing executive privilege. four american servicewomen are suing the pentagon hoping to force the military to drop its policy that excludes them from thousands of ground combat positions. all four women are veterans of the war in iraq and afghanistan. they main the combat exclusion role is discriminatory. >> the policy limits my future in the marine corps. i would be assigned to positions based on my gender rather than on my qualifications or my

accomplishments. this didn't make sense personally or politically and it did not make sense for the military. >> she also says this prevents commanders from deciding the best way to fight. so what would you do with $500 million? that's tonight's record-shattering powerball jackpot expected to climb higher. millions of americans in 42 states are trying to parlay $2 into half a billion. alison kosik is live from times square this morning. what's happening there? 60% of ticket sales are expected to be made today. we know the odds are pretty slim, but people are still going for it. >> reporter: they are still going for it. you know, you talk about the odds, the odds are slim. 175 million to 1 are the odds that you'll win this, but what the heck. everybody is trying anyway. the $500 million is only expected to grow as the buzz continues about this huge jackpot. more and more continue to put

money in and buying tickets. what's interesting is that this jackpreside jackpot has been rolling over 16 times and the likelihood of it rolling over is getting slim. there's a 5% chance it will rollover again. so there goes even more incentive to buy tickets. but here's the thing, $500 million, you don't get that. you probably wind up with about $324 million. what can you do with that? i don't know. what can you do with it? >> $324 million, oh, my goodness. you are talking to people buying tickets, why do they do it when the chances of winning are so slim? we spend so much more time talking about buying a lottery ticket than planning for retirement. i sound like a total square, but that's the truth. your chances are so slim, you're buying a little piece of aspiration and maybe a little bit of take this job and shove it. >> reporter: exactly. we can all dream, right? it is sort of like the ad for the lotto says, you have to be

in it to win it. and if you want to dream, you have to try. the odds really are slim. you have better odds at being struck by lightning, of dying from a bee sting or getting bitten by a shark. one person i talked to who walked in today to buy a ticket said, you know what? i'm going to be giving half my money away if i win this to the irs, so i'm going to buy a ticket anyway. >> the record jackpot -- >> i would say the irs always wins, they always get half. no matter who wins, they always win. >> reporter: but your odds of winning are slim. >> i think it is one in a million, but it will be less if i don't play. >> reporter: see, exactly. if he doesn't play -- and so i listened to him. christine, if you're wondering, i have the winning powerball ticket right here. i'm in it and i'm going to win it. at least i hope i will. >> we have the jackpot as a record because of the rollovers but there were changes made to the powerball game. what about that? >> reporter: remember the slogan, you have to have a dream and a dollar to enter this thing

and really win? well, now it is more like a dream and $2. because what the lotto commission essentially did was double the price because the effort was to try to increase revenue. and that's essentially what's happened here because as these powerball tickets have increased in price, you have seen these jackpots also just really balloon. and that, of course, once again increases the buzz to get everyone to continue buying it and it grows the jackpots to make everybody that much more interested to go ahead and buy these tickets. you look at some of the figures and it is really helping certainly the lotto effort. revenue has certainly grown. 35% this year compared to last. >> alison kosik, $2 and a dream. thank you. so we were sitting here talking about the lottery and perhaps winning, you take this incredibly serious. christine romans has a plan for you in case you win it. what would you do? >> move to a state that doesn't have state income tax. you right away have to talk to a trust lawyer to get it in the

trust immediately to keep the money off limits to make sure it doesn't corrupt your children. think about growing the money, not spending the money. we think, how would i spend all that money? >> no, how would you grow that money. you can fund generations of your family if you don't spend it on dumb stuff. a lot of people after they win the lottery have nothing in the end. they end up broke. >> a lot of people win a lot of money and have nothing to show for it. i was just really surprised with us constantly talking about, what are your real chances and you have a real plan lady. >> i know a lottery winner wouldn't let me do a story of him. first thing, he bought a house in florida. he told anybody that he won and set up a trust so none of his family could get ahold of the money. only when it was time. and then he went out and bought everybody a john deere lawn mower and said, don't ask me for money. i took care of you, leave me alone. >> thank you for sharing that. when i win, i have a plan.

39 minutes past the hour. facing the fiscal cliff, president obama courts the biggest ceos on wall street. yesterday he reached out the smallest business owners on main street. we'll talk to one of them coming up. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more

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part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ welcome back. 43 minutes past the hour. 34 days until the united states faces a fiscal cliff and politicians in washington are trying to inch closer to a compromise to avoid the tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect january 1st. this afternoon president obama meets with ceos of several large companies like home depot, coca-cola and yahoo!. they will be discussing ways to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, but this follows a meeting yesterday with small

business opwners who say they ae critical to the recovery. many owners told the president they need a deal soon. >> they had one message for the president, which is they need certainly. please get this deal done as soon as possible. they very much want consumers out there knowing that they are going to have money in their pockets to spend. that's why it's so important that we pass the tax cuts, the extension of the tax cuts for 98% of consumers, 97% of all small businesses. >> lisa goodbee was at the meeting yesterday. she's a member of the small business majority network council. karen, thank you for taking time to join us this morning. we appreciate it. in the clip we just played, do you agree that passing tax cuts for most small businesses and consumers is actually imperative to the economy? >> absolutely.

that was one of the things that was the biggest discussion item yesterday. a group of small business owners, really everybody in the room was under a consensus that the extension of the middle class tax cuts was important, mostly for removing the uncertainty that the business community feels right now in terms of making sure that consumers have money in their pockets, making sure business owners are confident in doing what they need to do to make the business decisions important to them. yeah, it was loud and clear yesterday, both from the president and from the business community that this was a deal that needed to be done. >> so we have seen a lot of disagreements here between republicans and democrats on the issue of raising the tax rates, cutting from entitlements, are you worried what will happen if we do fall off the fiscal cliff? i'm curious as to how it would affect your business, in particular. >> some of the issues that are a concern for me in terms of the fiscal cliff, primarily are the transportation funding. i'm a civil engineer working out of denver, a small business.

any cuts to transportation funding would significantly impact my business. and on a personal level, absolutely, i feel like we do fall in the higher tax bracket as did a lot of the small business owners. and we feel like it is still the right thing to do to make sure that everybody pays their fair share and that a deal is made so that it's equitable across the board. it is too important. the fiscal cliff will affect not only the national community but colorado economics and of course, my business. >> if you talk to me about the people that were in the room and the sentiment that was expressed to the president, i'm curious as to how many people and if there were some solutions, real solutions that were put on the table. >> it was interesting. we went around the room, the president went around to every business owner, shook their hand and discussed a little bit about their perspective and how the fiscal cliff was going to affect their business personally. i think a lot of business owners

were really reaching out to make sure he understood that the decisions he was making right now really did affect their world. it's not just something that you read about in the paper. and in terms of solutions, there was a lot of things bantored about. nothing really concrete but the empowering thing for me was it was a chance for him to listen to us. and he was really listening more than talking, which was a surprise to a lot of us small business owners, and it was really just an empowering session that made you feel like as a small business owner you had a say in the production of what's going on. so it was a great experience. >> and at the end of the day, lisa, what is it you would like to see happen? >> i definitely would like to see the fiscal cliff voided and a deal cut sooner rather than later. i think it is particularly important that there are there were a lot of businesses involved in the room in retail. and it became clear to him that there was some ashurps before the holidays that people were

going to have money in their pockets and there was going to be a positive environment for them to start spending their money and for all us businesses to succeed. i came away feeling really good about it. >> i'm happy to hear that, lisa. thank you for spending time with us, lisa goodbee, president of goodbee and associates. i apologize for calling you karen earlier. it is cold, wet and snowy. the northeast blasted with good old-fashioned winter weather. now it's the west coast's turn to get smacked with heavy rains. the forecast is coming up. is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times.

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eight minutes till the top of the hour, here are the top stories. americans are trying to turn $2 into $500 million. the jackpot is expected to be higher before the numbers are drawn. this is the second largest jackpot in history and a record for the 42-state powerball game. the cash payout for a single winning ticket is now at $324 million. your chances of winning are 1 in 175 million. >> i'm taking the chance. ambassador susan rice returns to capitol hill after failing to satisfy key republican senators with her explanation about the benghazi consulate attack. three senators now say they are troubled more than they were before meeting with rice.

four gay men are suing a gay conversion therapy group that promised to make them straight. they say a new jersey group called jonah, which claims being gay is a reversible mental disorder, is fraudulent. one of the plaintiffs appeared on "ac 360" last night to talk about the harm therapy caused him. he was joined by the deputy legal director of the southern poverty law center that filed the suit. >> well, there's definitely this insidious trauma that is inflicted on a person when the repeated message is that there's something inside of you that's broken and if you try hard enough you can fix it. >> well, we feel very strongly that we will win because jonah's services are based on complete lies. >> cnn has called and e-mailed jonah representatives for comment but they have not responded. black ice and snow causing trouble after yesterday's storm in the northeast. now new storms are rolling into

the northwest this morning. alexandra steele is up early in the extreme weather center. good morning. >> good morning. from black ice to a pineapple express, right? it sounds a little ice creamy this morning. hi, everyone, good morning. two storms, one that's exiting and one incoming. here's the exiting one. of course, this was the rain and snow that moved out of the northeast. i told you it would be a one-day affair, one-day quick-hitter, and it was. west milford, six inches. chester, five inches. sunbury, pennsylvania, three inches. in the hudson valley we are seeing black ice on the elevated roads this morning. now to the pineapple express part of the equation. what we have is coming into the west. the pineapple express is moisture coming from the hawaiian islands to the west coast. now today we are going to see it all the way thursday, friday and into the weekend. by friday northern california,

southern oregon, four to eight inches of rain. potentially by sunday, 10 to 12 inches of rain. really a barrage of moisture. landslides, mudslides and feet of snow from the sierra to the bitter roots. big picture today is the coast, but lots of the country. dry and comfortable in the upper midwest down to dallas, texas. alexandra steele, thank you. all pointy ears down under, all the hype surrounded thehobbit premier in new zealand is headed your way. their very first wor. [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed

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welcome back to "early start." it is 58 minutes past the hour. homemade hobbit feet, sounds

attractive, doesn't it? an unexpected journey in wellington, new zealand. >> tv new zealand was on-hand for the festivities. >> reporter: this has been 100,000 fans in new zealand catching their favorite hobbit stars. the international stars arrived in new zealand for the world premier that took place in wellington. this has been a huge production for new zealand and is a huge economic boost for the country as well. an entire marketing campaign for tourism new zealanders is built around these films and it is vital that the production of the movies is made here in new zealand. fans camped out about 24 hours before the broadcast of the world premier of that movie.

many came from around the world to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars and the party is in full swing the day of the world premier. >> 100,000 people. >> i know. "the york. it will be in theaters december 14th. you going to see it? >> no. i got a long list before that one. >> "early start" continues right now. >> >> one more try. u.n. ambassador susan rice gets another chance today to win over republican lawmakers. after round one left three of them unconvinced. >> dollars and dreams. we are now just hours away from finding out the winning numbers in one of the largest lottery jackpots in history. and guess who is apologizing? a certain rich teen actor has apparently decided it's not a good idea to bite the hand that feeds him. >> millions and millions and millions of dollars.

>> good morning and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. john berman is on assignment this morning. >> we're happy to have you, christine. i'm zoraida sambolin. 6:00 a.m. here in the east. in just a few hours u.n. ambassador susan rice will be back on capitol hill to meet with two more republican senators. she hopes it goes a lot better than yesterday. rice met face-to-face with three of her harshest gop critics for not satisfying with her answers concerning the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. senators john mccain, lindsey graham, kelly ayotte say they are more troubled now than before they had that meeting and all indications are they are still against the president's nominating rice for secretary of state. >> we are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get. bottom line, i'm more disturbed now than i was before. >> apparently she misled the american public. i think that she would say that.

she'd have to say that. >> cnn foreign affairs reporter elise labott is live in washington. really nice to see you elise. why are rice's critics saying they are more concerned now? >> well, zoraida, they're concerned because it turns out that there was some information in classified settings that ambassador rice told the senators about that did indicate that al qaeda possibly was involved, that this could be a terrorist attack. and when she sat down with those senators yesterday, what she said was that there were unclassified talking points provided by the cia that just talked about this so-called spontaneous protest. but at the same time, ambassador rice, as a member of cabinet, she's privy to classified intelligence briefing, and there was some kind of information that indicated this. now she also said that the cia and the cia has come out publicly and said that the cia took those classified points out about the al qaeda attack.

so what ambassador rice was really left with was all this information about the spontaneous attack and nothing about those terrorist elements. let me read to you a little bit of what ambassador rice issued in a statement yesterday. she said we explained that the talking points provided by the intelligence community, the initial assessment upon which they were based, were uncorrect in one key respect, there was no protest or demonstration in benghazi. while we concernly wish that we had perfect information just days off the terrorist attack, as is often the case, the intelligence assessment has evolved. so certainly the senators are saying we have more questions than answers. but they're also saying, in a position such as secretary of state, which we all know that ambassador rice is the leading contender for at this point, given the vociferous defense by the white house, in a job such as secretary of state, you really have to ask the tough

questions, and you can't just have what they're calling blind loyalty to the president, zoraida. >> so we hear that she's going to have more criticism today, possibly. what about supporters? >> well, she's meeting with senator corker, who is a senior member of the senate foreign relations committee. she's also meeting with senator collins of maine who is a top republican on the senate homeland committee. and they said that they will give her a fair hearing, they do have some concerns. but senator joe lieberman, who is the top republican on the senate homeland affairs committee, said he's satisfied with what ambassador rice told them in the meeting. nothing he heard could disqualify her from becoming potentially secretary of state. let's take a listen to what senator lieberman said yesterday. >> she couldn't have said more clearly than she said to me today that she told the truth to the best of her knowledge. she said what she believed was true, and she was under no political influence from the white house. >> so, zoraida, she certainly

has some supporters. clearly there are a lot of democratic supporters in the senate that would support her. the white house really standing by her at this point. these senators continue to have questions, but they do say they're willing to continue the dialogue. so, certainly, if she can continue to use that diplomacy, that could be potentially good for a job as secretary of state. >> and i know you just played senator lieberman there. he's retiring, isn't he? >> he is retiring. so, even though he is satisfied and nothing would disqualify her, doesn't have a vote. >> yeah, all right. elise labott, live in washington for us. thanks so much. nice to see you. so what would you do with $500 million? that's tonight's record shattering powerball jackpot, but climbing higher. millions of americans in 42 states trying to parlay two bucks into half a billion. i'm not sure what you could buy for half a billion dollars. you do pay a lot of taxes though. alison kosik live from times square this morning. what's happening where you are?

>> you know you talk about what would you do with the money? this guy who just left bought a newspaper. i asked him what would you do with the money? he said i'm not buying a ticket, i don't know what i'd do with the money, more money, more problems. i don't know if i really agree with that. seeing some people not only buying their coffee but also plunking down $2 for a powerball ticket. yeah, that jackpot is huge and you have a lot of dreamers walking in this morning on their way to work and they're thinking, if i win this jackpot, i'm not showing up for work tomorrow. that's what they're saying. >> what are the odds? it's still pretty slim, isn't it? >> yeah, the odds are pretty bad. the odds are 1 in 175 million so your odds aren't good. you have better odds of let's say, i don't know getting stung by a bee, getting attacked by a shark, being struck by lightning. but that's not dissuading everybody from buying these tickets. what's ironic your odds of actually winning are going down as this jackpot goes higher and higher. yet, we continue to buy, including me. i happen to have the winning

ticket right in my back pocket, christine. have you bought any tickets yet? here's the winning ticket by the way. >> i have not bought any yet but i am in the office pool. and we are currently -- currently electing the pool captain and the potential money manager. we're all discussing who will one the cameras in the next few days. >> the jackpot's been rolling over since october 6th. so it's rolled over 16 times. there's only a 5% chance it's going to roll over again. you want to buy your ticket. >> alison kosik, thank you so much. we talk about this a lot. we make a lot of fun about all the frenzy over the lottery. but seriously, we spend more time worrying about the lottery than we do about saving for college! >> i made friends with this guy barry on facebook, he said he would retries my foot steps for the last 40 years and help everyone who helped me through so many problems. i want to meet you, barry. now to the fiscal cliffhanger. just 34 days before massive tax hikes and spending cuts kick in and democrats and republicans look like they are gridlocked.

the sticking point, entitlement reform. republicans appear willing to budge on higher taxes for the wealthy, but only if programs like social security, medicare, and medicaid face cuts. >> the reason we're having these negotiations is because washington democrats have spent money without any care for the cost or the future. and refuse to do anything to protect long-term spending programs like medicare, one of the single biggest drivers of our debt. >> one in three people in this country are going to rely on medicare and medicaid for their health insurance. so we need to find ways to preserve these programs. >> senator durbin is suggesting the debate over entitlement programs should be waged after the new year. so what are the chances democrats and republicans can trike a deal to fend off the fiscal cliff? later this hour we'll ask a member of the house budget committee tennessee republican congresswoman diane black.

three midlevel managers at the garment factory that went up in flames in bangladesh are now under arrest. they are accused of locking the main gate of that garment factory after the inferno broke out on saturday. this fire killed more than 100 workers. injured more than 150 others. several thousand people are mourning and protesting near the factory. win car bombings in syria this morning. state tv says at least 34 people were killed in the blasts, which happened just outside the capital damascus. a human rights group says the death toll may rise due to the dozens of people injured in the bombing. also new this morning, an audit of the kabul bank in afghanistan. the primary depository for u.s. taxpayer funded reconstruction dollars. the audit concludes that a handful of people ran a fraudulent lending scheme at the bank where those connected to president karzai had assets of hundreds of millions of dollars. tragedy on long island. a 6-year-old boy was killed when

a bus crashed right into his home. this was late last night. police say the driver tried to avoid hitting a pedestrian, when he swerved, lost control and crashed right into the front bedroom of the house. the victim's 7-year-old brother was also in the bedroom at the time, and he suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 11 people on the bus escaped with minor injuries. the statue of liberty in ellis island and new york harbor closed for the foreseeable future. 400 people have been laid off from their jobs. the popular national monument suffered damage from superstorm sandy and are closed at least through the end of the year. possibly much longer. you were just there. >> i'm actually headed there again tomorrow, so i'll bring you the aftermath of that, as well. so after biting the hand that feeds him, millions upon millions of dollars, the actor angus t. jones, the kid from "two and a half men" is saying sorry, sort of. in an online individual yoi, jones who recently joined an

evangelical christian church called the sitcom filth and told viewers not to watch it. now, he's out with this statement, saying in part, quote, i apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues, and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which i have been blessed. i never intended that. and now former co-star charlie sheen, remember him, who was fired from the show, is weighing in, as well, in a statement through his publicist saying, quote, it is radically clear to me that the show "two and a half men" is cursed. >> 11 minutes after the hour. first the trayvon martin case, now another fatal shooting involving a teen in florida. it could put the state's stand your ground law to the test. that story is coming up.

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another possible test of florida's controversial stand your ground gun law. this time murder suspect michael dunn says he was threatened, after he asked four african-american teens in an suv to turn down loud music, at a jacksonville gas station. dunn's attorney says they hurled insults at him, then flashed a shotgun, and that's when, she says, dunn decided to defend himself. police say dunn peppered the suv with eight or nine bullets. two of those bullets hit 17-year-old jordan davis, killing him. martin savidge is following developments from our headquarters in atlanta. what's the latest? >> good morning, christine. a memorial service is going to be held for that 17-year-old youth, jordan davis, it will be held tonight. meanwhile the man in custody, that's michael dunn, 45 years of age, arrested saturday. he had his first court appearance on monday. he entered a plea of not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder, and right now, he continues to be in custody. there is no bond.

so that's the very latest on where it stands. >> -- the evidence that davis or the other teens had a gun? i mean this is a really key part of the whole story about he felt threatened, he sawed barrel of a shotgun over sort of the ledge of the window. but, police didn't find a gun, right? and do we know why dunn left the scene? >> right. two very critical points. police did not find a gun, and the teens say they did not have a weapon inside of their vehicle. the attorney that represents dunn says, hey, it's quite possible the teens could have got rid of that gun before police arrived on the scene. here's how police described what dunn told them. >> his statement was that, you know, i just fired at these kids. and we believe at that time he -- i don't know if he knew that he struck anyone in the vehicle. but, next morning, i guess when they woke up in the hotel and saw the news, that someone was killed, that's when they got in the car and -- >> and that sort of plays into

your second question there, christine, as to why he left. he apparently fires eight or nine shots into a vehicle in which he knows that there are four teens inside, but apparently thinks he didn't hit anybody, and thereby could drive off. and it wasn't until the next morning he saw the news accounts that he learned he actually had shot and killed someone. the attorney who represents mr. dunn has spoken out on his behalf and says that -- oh, listen to what she said. >> what we know is that once all the facts come out, what really happened is made known, that it will be very clear that mr. dunn acted responsibly, and as any responsible firearm owner would have acted under these same circumstances. >> michael dunn is a gun enthusiast, according to his attorney, and also he was licensed to carry a concealed weapon. to say that he acted responsibly, firing eight or nine shots at a crowded gas

station, many might dispute that. christine? >> and i'm curious, martin, and i'll have to look into the florida law, but if the concealed weapon's permit, if the laws in florida allow you to discharge a weapon and -- and in self-defense but then not report it. i mean, there's, there's, there's not reporting it here, which is, which is so interesting. and it's also florida. this is where the trayvon martin shooting happened. very different cases, but with some similarities, i guess. any indication that dunn's attorney is setting up a stand your ground defense here? >> you're right. there are similarities. again, another 17-year-old african-american youth. then on top of that this took place in jacksonville, florida. that is the home turf of angela curry. she is the one that is going to prosecute in the trayvon martin case. however, the attorney in this particular case, the defense attorney, says that this is not a george zimmerman here. that we are dealing with. it's not sort of a vigilanteism. and she says that she hasn't determined whether or not stand your ground is going to apply. it could, because if she's

saying her client felt threatened, even if the teens didn't have a weapon, it is, under that law, possible a de23e7bs could be made. >> certainly is a dangerous situation that turned quite deadly. martin savidge, thanks. it is 18 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on this morning's top stories. millions of americans planning their retirement right now, folks, as powerball fever sweeps the entire nation. tonight's jackpot, half a billion dollars. it's the second largest in lottery history and a record for the 42-state powerball game. and that jackpot is probably rising right as we speak, since officials say 60% of sales are made on the day of the drawing. so imagine what the number will be. >> oh, imagine. right. you're looking at live pictures from indiana where they're giving away free powerball lottery tickets to the first 500 people today. people keep saying, you know, what would -- how would i spend the money? i mean you could -- you could -- oh, yeah pay off your mortgage. you could buy an oral refinery, a couple swiss commercial banks. you could buy i don't know how

many jumbo jets. >> indiana one of those states where there have been a lot of lottery winners. those free powerball tickets, folks. >> other good pictures for you. persistent deer really wanted to check out a beauty supply store. they kept hearing a commotion outside yesterday. turns out it was a deer trying to get in. the deer finally crashed through the door. for about 15 minutes, and left on its own. >> oh. just wanted to warm up a little bit. sit at your own risk. a new study says your couch may be toxic. the study surveyed 102 couches and found that 85% of them had some sort of flame retardant chemical in their foam. this is the largest study of its kind, flame retardant chemicals have been linked to fertility issues, hormone imbalances, as well as lowered iq, and hyperactivity in children. get rid of the sofa!

>> dairy farmers are so fed up they turned on the hoses, spraying milk at riot police, and on the european parliament in brussels. europe's milk board says low milk prices and excessive quotas are putting small farm es out of business. >> all right, location, location, location, beautiful people. travel and leisure is out with america's most attractive people. >> and number one, probably no surprise to you, miami. where the physiques and bikini bods along south beach speak for themselves. >> number two sun drenched san diego followed by san juan, puerto rico, charleston, south carolina and los angeles. >> where is new york on the list? >> what is the rate of plastic surgeons per capita in all those places? just saying. >> you know what was on the list, though, i think was it minneapolis? i think it was. i think it was minneapolis was on that list, as well. that kind of surprised me. all right coming up good news really good news for the housing industry this morning. we dig actually christine is digging in very deep and you're going to want to listen to this n be frustrating.

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good morning to you. welcome back to "early start." we're minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are down, and with greek bailout concerns behind us for the time being the focus turns squarely on to fiscal cliff negotiations in washington, and the health of the u.s. economy. >> so let's talk about something that's good for us, right? and that's home prices. they are improving and recovering in much of the country. new home sales, those numbers come out today and we learned yesterday that home prices were

up nationwide by 3.6% in the third quarter. this was according to a report by s&p case shiller. that's the biggest rise in more than two years. the cities with the strongest gains over the past year. home prices in phoenix up more than 20%. minneapolis, 9%. look at that, detroit, denver, dallas, tampa, there are only two big cities with homes losing value, just a smidge, new york, down 2%. chicago down about 1.5%. >> was that 20.4? where was that? >> phoenix. unbelievable. remember they had a huge decline, and now they're crawling out of the hole. you're seeing a lot of cash purchases and investor purchases in some of these places. some people, frankly, are, you know, they're buying up retirement -- their retirement home because they have the cash. >> florida is also seeing that. >> a lot of money from central america, from south america, from brazil, from china, cash purchases, investors parking their money in real estate.

also, another apple map executive losing his job. remember the apple maps debacle? according to a bloomberg business week rich williamson is out. this comes off the head of ople ap rating system lost his job after complaints about the maps software. the one thing you need to know about your money today, holiday airfare expected to rise 8% compared with last year. this is according to the travel website orbitz. experts say the earlier you book the better. you thought i was going to do one thing about the lottery. >> what would you do with half a billion dollars? tweet us @early start cnn with your power ball comments or find us on facebook. post all of your jackpot thoughts. questions?

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trying again. u.n. ambassador susan rice gets another shot at soothing republican lawmakers unhappy with her comments in wake of the benghazi attack. the right to fight. female troops suing the pentagon to try to get into combat. welcome back to "early start," i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans in for john berman today. it's about 31 minutes past the hour. >> so imagine, christine, having a bank account that ends with eight zeros. 500 million dollars. that is tonight's record-shattering powerball jackpot and it is expected to climb even higher. millions of americans in 42 states trying to parlay two bucks into a life-changing fortune. alison kosik is live from times square this morning. alison, 60% of ticket sales are expected to be head today. share with us the odds of winning, if you must. >> you know what's interesting? you talk about 60% of ticket sales happening today. one happening right next to me. rick is buying how many tickets? >> i bought five more. >> so that means you already

have how many? >> we now have 20. >> but what are the chances you're going to win? you think you're going to win? >> i do not. i don't have a chance in the world. >> then why buy them? >> it's all about the hype. >> and we're all buying into the hype, aren't we? >> you're here, you should get one. >> i did get one. in fact i think i have the winning ticket. >> i'll trade you -- >> i'm not trading, no way. i have the winning ticket, zoraida. >> and this number keeps on going ka-ching, ka-ching. we understand that was perhaps because the rules changed. tell us about that. >> what's interesting lotto officials wanted to try to increase sales revenue so what they did was they hiked the price on the powerball ticket from $1 to $2. this happened in january. what they saw was sales fell off then they got back into the swing of things and the sales started going up and up and up, especially since the jackpot started getting so big. and that's also part of the reason why you're seeing this jackpot so big at $500 million.

part of the reason for that, of course, is that this jackpot has rolled over 16 consecutive times, the last time someone won was october 6th. so it's just the buzz of this jackpot growing that is getting more and more people to continue buying tickets. but there's an irony to this because the higher the jackpot goes, the more tickets people buy, of course, but also your odds of winning, they fall. people do it because we want to dream. >> what are the odds right now? >> 175 million to 1. that's why we dream. >> and you think you're the one? >> free to dream. >> i am the one, yes. you won't see me at work tomorrow. or maybe you will. >> i'm sure we will. thank you. check this out, folks. this is indiana. people are getting free powerball tickets. can we show that picture? do we have it? but we're getting it for you. we're getting it for you. seven locations around the state, hoosier lottery is handing 500 free tickets at 500 free tickets alone at each location. this is the first time that

they've handed out free lotto tickets. it has happened several times this year. usually happens when the jackpot gets over $200 million. so if you happen to be in that area, head over. >> if you don't want to spend five bucks on tickets you could put it in a 529 today. that would be nice. >> you've got to dream a little christine. >> all right, all right. >> we have the pictures. here you go. >> in case you need an incent e incentive, you've got a little mascot helping you out. this is in indiana. >> 3500 tickets at seven different locations. first 500 people at each of those spots is going to get a free ticket. wouldn't that be something -- what are your chances of winning a lottery and never buying a ticket. >> oh, my gosh. >> that would be something. >> that would be a great story. still i want that ticket to be sold here, locally. >> all right, susan rice, she returns to capitol hill today for a second round of meetings with republican senators. rice failed to win over her

sharpest gop critics yesterday. they're still troubled about her comments following the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. she says sprang from a spontaneous protest. one of those senators telling cnn's "ac 360" that rice misled the american people. >> she would say that. she'd have to say that because she began our meeting today admitting that the representations about the video and the protests were wrong. and the impression left the american people was misleading. >> senator lindsey graham and john mccain say they are more concerned now than before meeting with ambassador rice and they're still not willing to consider her as secretary of state. four american servicewomen want the pentagon to drop its policy that excludes women from thousands of ground combat positions. so they have not filed a lawsuit. all four women are veterans of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. two have received a purple heart, as well. they maintain the combat exclusion rule is discriminatory.

>> the policy limits my future in the marine corps. i would be assigned to positions based on my gender, rather than on my qualifications or my accomplishments. this didn't make sense for me personally or professionally and it frankly doesn't make sense for the military. >> the captain also said the exclusion policy creates a dangerous set of rules that prevents commanders from deciding the best way to fight. protection, coming up gators instead of guard dogs. pictures you don't want to miss. , try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase.

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soledad is back and she joins us with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> so much ahead.

we're going to talk this morning about entitlements. should they be off the table in these fiscal cliff negotiations? can there be a deal any other way? we'll look at that with the assistant majority leader senator dick durbin joining us, former governor tim pawlenty, christine todd whitman also our guests this morning. plus protesters showed up naked, look at that. that's house speaker john boehner's office. they were demanding on a serious front demanding funding to fight aids. >> oh, my goodness. >> seven of them will be joining us, fully clothed i'm hoping, to talk about what sparked their protest, what they're hoping to gain, plus she sold 100 million records in a decade. a career that spanned five decades, dionne warwick is our guest. going to talk about her new album, my father is in love with dionne warwick so he'll be all excited about that. much more coming up this morning on "starting point." >> did you invite your father in? >> he can watch it on tv. of course. >> we'll be getting up -- >> oh, my gosh, soledad. thanks. >> you bet. >> black ice and snow causing some trouble after yesterday's

storm in the northeast. now, new storm's rolling into the northwest this morning. alexandra steele with the extreme weather center where -- putting the extreme in extreme weather. >> it looked pretty yesterday for a minute. >> oh, i bet. six inches in portions of new jersey. so we've got two things happening. one exiting storm producing black ice. and then an incoming mammoth storm which is the pineapple express. kind of a little dairy queen moment this morning. there goes the rain, the snow into the northeast. here's a look at how much we've seen thus far. six inches in west milford, new jersey. 2 and a half inches in millbrook, new york. it's the hudson valley, southern connecticut, and northern new jersey seeing the black ice this morning. temperatures low, the moisture left over from the rain and melting snow. be mindful of that as you head out. here's the big story. a big player in the west. kind of just arsenal of moisture. it's this pineapple express. and it's moisture that goes all the way from hawaii to the west coast here. and this, today, is just kind of

a teeny little beginnings of it. we've got a five-day affair with this thing. and really, where we'll see the worst, northern california and southern oregon. so the rain begins to move in today. but lasts straight through the week, even into the weekend, and sunday. by friday, 4 to 8 inches of rain from sacramento potentially, to redding, and then by sunday, another two days of potentially up to 12 inches of rain. heavy sierra snow. heavy bitterroot snow to boot. biggest areas being impacted, san francisco, sacramento, los angeles. 20 to 30 foot waves, potentially, off the coast of south coast of washington and california. and oregon. heavy snow, and of course rock slides, mudslides so a huge affair lasting through the weekend. today, though, pretty quiet around much of the country. cold in the upper 34d west, but mild through much of the country and the southeast. >> all right, alexandra steele live in atlanta. thank you. >> yes. >> 42 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. this is unimaginable horror for

a family on new york's long island. a 6-year-old boy was killed when a bus crashed right into their home last night. police say the driver actually swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian, and then went crashing right into the house, 11 people on the bus suffered minor injuries, as well. talk about protecting your investments. police say a washington state man used two five foot long alligators to guard his marijuana growing operation. they're investigating to see if the pot was grown illegally or for medical purposes. and while the gators may be dangerous, they were not seized. >> oh, my. all right so there is movement in the long standoff between the justice department and the house oversight committee over fast and furious. that was the government's controversial operation where guns were tracked across the border into the hands of mexican drug cartels. guns linked to the program were found at the site where a u.s. border patrol agent was killed. the two sides are in talks to settle a lawsuit over certain documents that the obama administration has refused to

give congress, citing executive privilege. and 30 rock ready for its close-up. the annual rockefeller center christmas tree lighting takes place tonight here in new york city. for the past two weeks they've been decorating the tree with more than 30,000 multicolored l.e.d. lights. tonight, tens of thousands of people will crowd the sidewalks in midtown for a glimpse of the worldwide symbol of the holiday season. >> in honor of my first christmas here i am going tonight. >> that's right. good for you. >> i'm very excited. >> tonight's powerball jackpot is half a billion dollars. expected to climb even higher before the big drawing tonight. >> it is the second largest jackpot in lottery history and a record for the 42-state game. the cash payout for a single winning ticket right now is $324 million. >> and right now the state of indiana is giving away 3500 free powerball lottery tickets. it's first come, first serve. right now we have jessica hayes of our affiliate wish in zionsville with a dancing

powerball mascot behind her. how is it looking out there, jessica? >> good morning to you. well, it's been a really busy morning here. we had folks lined up before they started giving the free tickets away. you can see we have the mascot here handing the tickets out. we're also joined by al larsson with our hoosier lottery. why do the free ticket give away? it's something unique to hoosiers. >> this is a historic day for powerball. nationwide. this gives a chance to share the excitement. >> you had 500 tickets to give away. how many do you have left? >> about 300 tickets left right now. they're going steady. we've got more so if you can hear it, get here and get yourself a shot at the jackpot. >> they're encouraging folks to come down and get the tickets. >> we do this quite often. gives us a chance to support the big jackpots and give people a shot at it. >> all right, al, thanks very much. one thing we talked to the first woman in line this morning. she got here a little after 5:00 to get her ticket.

i said what are you going to do if you win? you think about how you would buy, guilty pleasures? she said the first thing she would do is change her phone number. so we got a kick out of that. >> all right. listen, can you send us some of those free tickets in a little envelope fedex, please? >> i know. i actually had to buy mine this morning. >> all right. >> thanks. >> counting down to the fiscal cliff. can the lawmakers strike a deal to fend off this fiscal disaster? we're talking to a member of the house budget committee, tennessee's republican congresswoman diane black. coming up. i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% back on 4 trips to the airport. it's as easy as... -[ man ] 1... -[ woman ] 2... [ woman ] 3. [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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34 days until the united states faces down or falls down the fiscal cliff. and it's campaign 2012 all over

again. both democrats and republicans trying to sell you, the american people, on their plan. a live look at the white house right now, where today the president will meet with middle class americans and deliver remarks on those bush erica tax cuts set to go up on january 1st. tax rates set to go up on january 1st. while republicans will hold events in washington and in their home districts they're going to be talking about how raising taxes on those earning about $250,000 a year will be a job-killing move. all while politicians try to hash out a deal behind the scenes as the deadline looms closer. congresswoman diane black is a republican from tennessee. she's also a member of the budget committee. good morning, congresswoman. you know, there's so much going on in washington right now, and so much of it has to do with whether -- whether democrats will agree to big spending cuts and whether republicans will agree to raise revenue and raise taxes. you had signed this pledge not to raise tax rates. other -- others of your colleagues are saying, maybe they would rethink that.

would you go against your pledge, and raise revenue if it meant cutting deductions, limiting deductions, or raise tax rates? >> well, good morning, christine. it's good to be with you this morning. we absolutely have a lot of work to be done here on the hill. no doubt about that. but, my constituents sent me here to do the job of balancing this budget. and i -- you know, i answer to my constituents, not to a pledge. and my constituents certainly don't want me to go to washington to raise their taxes. but there are ways that we can balance this by increasing revenue, by pro-growth tax reform. so we know that there is a way to do that, without raising taxes. as a matter of fact, christine, as we look at what the president said just two years ago, when they were looking at extending these bush-era tax cuts, the president said we shouldn't tax anyone at this point in time when the economy is so bad. and our economy is worse now than it was then. >> so are you willing to wring some revenue out of loopholes and deductions?

that's how you can raise tax revenue without raising tax rates. although technically that goes against grover norquist's pledge. >> well, we've already put a plan out in the budget committee. as you said, i am a part of that budget committee. and we put out the fundamentals of that, where we would have a plan where we would have pro-growth tax reform, and that means something fairer, flatter and simpler, and a portion of that is to look at the deductions that right now really do benefit those in the upper income, and that we're willing to look at those, and to make sure that what we do does bring in more revenue by robust economy. >> and it wouldn't be a violation of a sort of a marriage vow to grover norquist. he has said that violating his pledge is somehow akin to, you know, violating your marriage vows. you don't -- your deal is with your constituents, not with grover norquist? >> that's right. that's exactly right. >> i want to talk a little bit about the debt ceiling because this is coming into play here. grover norquist, again, has written an op-ed mentioning the debt ceiling specifically. a new report for the bipartisan policy center said the ceiling must be raised before the end of

february to avoid default. he said republicans should use that as leverage, congresswoman, in the fiscal cliff deal. the debt ceiling that obama plans lump into every month or so for the next four years provides plenty of leverage for the gop to trade for spending cuts, as done in 2011, or continuing the lower rates. are you willing to do that, use the debt ceiling in this as leverage? >> well, what i'm willing to do, is to talk about, and a very serious conversation, which i don't believe we're really having here on the hill right now, and that is we have a spending-driven problem. you can't keep on spending a trillion dollars more than what you bring in every year. and until we look at both sides of this issue, and a balanced approach on this where we're looking at what is driving the debt, and making sure that we're balancing our budget, it's both revenue, and spending. and we've got to talk about both of those and we've got to be serious about, look, these are difficult kmpgss, because you're talking about entitlement reform, which any time you talk

about taking something away or changing, people get nervous. but it's got to be done for the benefit of all americans. current americans, as well as our future. and look, i came here to washington because i have six grandchildren. and i want to be sure that they know the same kind of america that i did as i was growing up, and have the same opportunities. >> you mentioned why you came to washington, and that you've got six grandchildren trying to be, you know, you are a role model in the republican party and you are a role model for your family, no question. and i want to ask you about the makeup of the committee chairmanship. politico points out that the republican leadership chose only men to lead all of the major house committees in congress. there are two chairs still left to be named. after this election that shows the coalition the democrats have built among young people, minorities, and women, do you think that your party has missed an opportunity here? >> well, what i will say is let's take a look at our leadership. we just had an election by our own body, and the leadership, we have three of our top positions are women.

our chairman of the conference, our vice chairman of the conference, and also our secretary are all women. and i think that speaks very highly about our conference, and the fact that we respect women in our conference, and what they have to offer. >> so much work to do. so much work to do before the end of the year. thank you so much. congresswoman diane black, republican from tennessee, member of the budget committee. all right, today's best advice coming up next. copd makes it hard to breathe,

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we wrap it up as always with best advice. >> today we hear from nascar star danica patrick about the best advice she ever received. >> i think the best advice i've ever received is to plan for the future, and to save your money, and especially in an athlete's career, that is not always as long as others maybe, to -- to plan for the future in a way that you can have the same lifestyle after you're done doing your job that you had while you were doing your job. and that takes some planning and thinking, and saving. so, that's what i've been doing for awhile, and -- >> hallelujah. >> music to christine's ears. >> especially on lottery day. plan for the future. save. and try to live off the earnings as long as you can. here's live lottery pictures for those into saving. >> this is in indiana and there's their mascot.

they're giving away free lottery tickets today. they're giving away 500. i think they were up to 300 tickets given away. where is that in indiana? >> zionsville. >> if you happen to be in the area head over there and get your free lottery tickets and call us. that's it for "early start" i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. "starting point" with soledad starts right now. welcome, everybody, you're watching "starting point." our starting point this morning, $2 and a dream. a record $500 million powerball drawing is just hours away. ed jackpot growing as i speak. talking to some potential multimillionaires in times square this morning. and from bad to worse the u.n. ambassador susan rice returns to capitol hill today after her first attempt to calm republican critics over those benghazi attacks seems to have failed. we'll talk about the impact of what she said. and the kid from "two and a half men" n